Recently, there has been an upsurge in the use of residential Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 wireless networks to provide a distribution medium between homes in a neighborhood. This wireless connectivity may be provided over so-called social channels, defined by Wi-Fi Direct. User devices may use time synchronization information of a wireless access point (AP) to receive services or discover other user devices in a social network served by the AP and communicating over the social channels. If no APs are nearby, or if no APs can provide services at a threshold level, a user device may join or form a social network comprised of other user devices, and this social network may have its own synchronization information.
A user device may wish to communicate with a device in a neighboring social network, and these communications may require the user device to have knowledge of synchronization information for the neighboring social network. Accordingly, there is a general need for methods for providing time synchronization and discovery-related information of a social network to neighboring AP-based and non-AP-based social networks so that user devices in neighboring social networks may discover each other and communicate over social channels.